Sonic: The Core of Existence
by Stingguy
Summary: Dr. Eggman has teamed up with a mysterious figure to take out Sonic once and for all. Little does he know that all universes are at stake.
1. Prologue: The Ancient Text

_SONIC_

_THE CORE OF EXISTENCE_

**Prologue: The Ancient Text**

We are the denizens of Chaos. No world known existed before The Three Great Seals. It has been told for generations that this is how it began. Countless years before our Earth was created, there was another world that existed on infinite planes. No one knows what it looks like or how it would appear. The people of this world were the Ultas, who had control over physical law.

They had a ruler. A strong monarch who had near limitless power. His name was Deimagna. However, there was a world without border beyond the walls of the Ultas'. It had no name, for it had no order or form. This world had three great rulers, with powers beyond limit, known as the Lords of Disorder. One had power over the decay of space, one over the decay of time, and the last over the decay of life. The Lords of Disorder opposed the Ultas, seeing them as a threat to their infinite empire. The Lords of Disorder sent beasts made of pure chaos into the realm of the Ultas to conquer their world. Though Deimagna had great power, he could not destroy the Lords of Disorder. Thus, he contained them in The Three Great Seals. Though they are contained, the power of the Lords still grows within them. To prevent them from escaping, Deimagna allowed the Seals to extend their energy to create the Seal Locks.

Each Great Seal is accompanied by their respective Seal Locks, which are guided by their "master". The Seal Locks hold and control the release of excess energy of the Great Seals. Deimagna isolated the Great Seals from each other, each with their respective locks. The Seals, extracting the chaos from the areas around them, created order, allowing new worlds to grow and prosper. We are of one of the three worlds that houses one of The Great Seals. Deimagna has spoken to one of our ancestors and told him of this story. He told him to guard the Seals indefinitely. Generations have come and gone and we still guard the Seal diligently. Deimagna also told us this before his return to his world: To activate the full potential of the Power of Chaos, say these words to the Seal:

"The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."


	2. Chapter 1: Times have Changed

**Chapter 1: Times Have Changed**

It was late in the night and Dr. Eggman was in his lab, hard at work. On his next great creation. Suddenly, a dark figure came from out of nowhere walked up behind him. It was roughly three feet tall and was wearing a black cloak covering its face. "Who's there?" said Eggman, as he turned around. "How did you pass my base's defenses? "Don't be afraid, doctor." said the cloaked figure, in a familiar yet deep, male voice. "I am here to make you a proposal." "I'm sorry", said Dr. Eggman, "but I will not work with anyone I don't know. Reveal yourself or get out!"

"I am on a secret mission. I must remain anonymous for the time being," said the figure. "Fine then," said Eggman reluctantly. "What is your proposal?" The figure chuckled. "I came to you for a reason, doctor. My sources tell me you are a strong enemy of a certain Sonic the Hedgehog."

"That blasted blue rat?" said Eggman angrily, "He's always foiling my plans and getting in my way! What do you want with him?"

"Let's not get feisty, doctor," said the figure. "I've been trying to locate you for quite a while now. Allow me to tell you the circumstances. I came here from the future of this planet, and a rather bleak one I must say. Bleak because of a cruel dictator named Sonic the Hedgehog." Eggman was in shock.

"You- you're lying! I'M the one who has been trying to take over the world for years now, only to be stopped by Sonic! That hedgehog opposes any new world order!"

"Well, times have changed. Listen and listen well. Not to far from this day, Sonic the Hedgehog will be corrupted by the Chaos Emeralds when trying to save the planet and became a ruthless monster. I've come back to prevent that from happening. I can not destroy the Chaos Emeralds, so I wish to defeat Sonic himself before this happens, but you're the only one I can turn to to help me with my plan. Will you help me doctor?"

Doctor Eggman, though in shock, began to laugh. "It's time I took out that Sonic once and for all! But… how do I know I can trust you? Why would you want to prevent Sonic from taking over the world but not me?"

"Maybe you will become my enemy, but I'm sure you know that forces must combine in times of peril."

Eggman smirked and sighed. "I guess you're right. But what do you have in mind?" The cloaked figure extended his hand, covered by a black glove. In it was a glowing, black computer chip.

"You gave this to me in the future, doctor. You may not know me yet, but you will. You sent me back in time to give this to you." Eggman picked up the chip.

"What is it? How can I use this?"

"I do not know," said the cloaked figure. "All you said was that it was compatible with your Egg Laser v2."

"Ahh! You came to the right time! I just put the finishing touches on it." Eggman picked up a red and black gun-shaped weapon as long as he is tall. It was quite heavy, so Eggman struggled to lift it. "It's going to be the main weapon of my next creation!" He put it on a table next to his laboratory computer. "Where does this… chip go?" asked Eggman. "It looks like it should go in the energy core." Eggman plugged the chip in. It fit perfectly. "What's it going to do?"

"It's going to be quite an interesting surprise," said the figure, smiling. "Let's leave it at that for now."


	3. Chapter 2: Seismic Surprise

**Chapter 2: Seismic Surprise**

It had been almost a year since Sonic's seen Eggman last. He's been taking a vacation in the Mystic Ruins. Tails has been letting Sonic stay at his lab for the time being. Sonic just returned from a quick run around the forest and found Tails at work in his lab. "Hey, Tails!" said Sonic.

"Oh, hey Sonic! Good news! I just finished the blueprint for the Tornado 4!"

"Cool! Any new tricks or gadgets?"

"Of course! For starters, this one is going to be designed to move up to Mach 5. The rest, well, you'll have to wait and see," he said with a wink.

"Alright then," said Sonic. "Surprise me!" Suddenly, there was a massive, extremely loud shaking.

"An earthquake!!" yelled Sonic.

"It's not an earthquake!" screamed Tails. "The seismograph isn't picking up anything!!"

"Then, what is it!?!" asked Sonic. The shaking stopped. "Is it over already?"

"Seems like it." said Tails. "We should investigate the source."

"Right", agreed Sonic, as he dashed out the door.

"Wait for me!" called Tails, as he followed.

Unexpectedly, he bumped into Sonic, right outside just standing there, looking up in awe.

A giant battle cruiser flew fluidly across the sky. It resembled the Egg Carrier, but was much larger. "Is… that Eggman's?" asked Tails.

"No doubt about it," said Sonic. He chuckled. "It's been far too long since I got a chance to kick some Eggman butt! C'mon Tails!" Sonic then dashed off toward the flying fortress.

Tails soon caught up to Sonic on the Cyclone. "Sonic! Hop on!" Sonic jumped on board the Cyclone and rode with Tails head-on into the ship.


	4. Chapter 3: An Aquatic Ambush

**Chapter 3: An Aquatic Ambush**

Tails flew the Cyclone directly toward the ship's LZ. Sonic nervously looked at Tails. "You put landing gear in THIS one, right?"

"Don't worry," said Tails. "I'm never making that mistake again." Tails then pressed the landing button, releasing the plane's landing gear. He lowered the Cyclone onto the landing pad.

"Alright, this is our stop," said Sonic, jumping off the wing. "Let's get off. Be quiet, we don't want to get caugh-"

Suddenly, an alarm sounded and a red light flashed. "ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLE IN LANDING ZONE 2!" a voice said repeatedly. A large steel plate covered the exit to the landing zone, and the doors locked.

"It's a trap!" yelled Sonic. A barrage of turrets rose from the cement.

"COMMENCE FIRE!" said the voice. The turrets locked on to Sonic and Tails.

"Tails! Hide!" yelled Sonic. Tails quickly ducked into the plane. Sonic spun into his trademark ball shape and rolled right through several turrets. Sonic grabbed one turret from the back and aimed it at the remainders, destroying them.

"We're clear!" yelled Sonic to Tails in the Cyclone. Tails hopped out of the plane next to Sonic. "That was too close! Thanks, Sonic!"

"Anytime, buddy!" said Sonic, giving a thumbs up. The alarm turned off, but the speaker system went on.

"Ah, hello Sonic! Welcome to the Neo Egg Carrier! I wasn't expecting you," said Eggman, sarcastically over the speakers. "But now that you're here, why don't you stay a while. Since you won't be going anywhere, I'm sure you won't need your plane."

A fairly large laser cannon came out of the wall targeted the Cyclone. "Tails, look out!" yelled Sonic. The laser cannon shot a few quick, powerful bursts at the plane, causing it to explode.

"The Cyclone!!!" yelled Tails! "No!!!"

"Ho ho ho ho!" laughed Eggman over the speaker. "I bet you didn't see THAT coming! I bet you didn't see this coming either!" A large window opened up, revealing the vessel is now underwater! "Did I mention my Neo Egg Carrier can transform into a submarine? Ho ho!"

"Drat!" exclaimed Sonic. "Looks like we're stranded in this pile of junk for the time being."

"This is pretty cunning," Tails said. "Almost too cunning for Eggman."

"Why don't you come in?" said Eggman. A door at the end of the landing pad opened. Sonic began to approach the door, but Tails stopped him.

"Wait," he said. "It could be a trap."

"I know, but we don't have much choice now, now do we?" Tails nodded, and followed Sonic to the door. He entered a large, metallic dome with nothing but a glass window near the top with an observation deck. He saw a black silhouette looking down at him.


	5. Chapter 4: A Healthy Glow

**Chapter 4: A Healthy Glow**

"Alright, Eggman" said Sonic, as he ran through the door with Tails. "What do you want?"

The door shut behind them. "Welcome, Sonic." said Eggman. He walked out of another door in front of them, surprisingly unarmed. "It's been quite some time now, but I remember everything quite well. You've been always tearing through my plans like they were made of tissue, always destroying my machines, ALWAYS BEING THE ULTIMATE THORN IN MY SIDE!" he yelled angrily. Sonic flinched a bit. He could tell Eggman was unusually mad. Eggman began to pace around a bit. "I've always wanted to take over the planet, but I'm also a scientist. As a scientist, I look for patterns in things, and I've found one rather obvious pattern: YOU are always the one who foils my plans. I guess it's high time we took care of this little problem once and for all."

Eggman snapped his fingers. A metal disc in the ceiling opened, and a rod armed with the Egg Laser v2 came out. "Allow me to introduce you to our… I mean… MY newest creation," said Eggman suspiciously. "I was planning to put this as the Neo Egg Carrier's main weapon, but I'd rather just use it on you directly. Have fun!" Eggman backed out of the room.

"He seems rather confident today," said Sonic callously.

The laser began to charge up. It aimed squarely at Sonic. "TARGET LOCKED," said the computer.

"Get ready, Tails!"

"ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CHARGED," announced the computer. "DEFAULT LASER SPEED: 1000 KM/H. FIRE." The laser shot out a wide, bright, blue blast. Sonic quickly ran out of the way.

"It's no use, Sonic!" said Eggman over the speakers. "You're going to get hit sooner or later!"

"Darn!" said Sonic. "Tails, find a way out of here while I dodge the laser!"

"Okay!" said Tails and immediately began to search the room for an escape route.

"INCREASING LASER SPEED TO: 1100 KM/H. FIRE.," said the computer. The laser fired again and missed, but by much less.

"Uh-oh!" said Sonic. "Tails! This thing can fire faster on its own! Have you found an exit yet?"

"Almost Sonic!" he replied. "I'm hacking into this door right now," he said as he hooked up a small gadget to the door Eggman left through.

"INCREASING LASER SPEED TO: 1200 KM/H. FIRE," said the computer.

The laser fired once again, this time barely missing. "Hurry, Tails!" said Sonic!

"Almost got it!" said Tails. "INCREASING LASER SPEED TO: 1300 KM/H. FIRE." The laser shot one more time, just scraping Sonic's left shoe as he dodged the blast.

"Almost there…" said Tails. "Got it! Come on Sonic!"

"INCREASING LASER SPEED TO: 1400 KM/H. FIRE." Just as Sonic made a mad dash for the exit, he was hit by the laser and fell flat on the ground.

"SONIC!!!" yelled Tails in distress, and ran over to Sonic on the floor.

Sonic groaned, trying to stand up, but fell back on his face.

Eggman laughed over the speakers. "Is this the end of the great Sonic the Hedgehog?" Eggman, in the other room as he observed Sonic's demise, was approached by the cloaked figure who watched as well. "Wha-!" said Eggman, surprised, as he turned off the speaker. "Don't startle me like that!"

Tails began to cry as Sonic was lying there on the ground. "Please! Speak to me Sonic! …huh?" Tails noticed that Sonic's veins began to glow a deep purple hue. "S-Sonic? Are you okay?"

All of a sudden, Sonic stood up straight, with his hands at his hips. "Better than ever!" he said. Tails hugged Sonic in relief.

"Wait a minute," said Tails. "What's this glow on you?" he asked, regarding the glowing sensation in his veins. Sonic looked at his arms and saw the glow.

"I… don't know…"


	6. Chapter 5: Time Out

**Chapter 5: Time Out**

"HUH!?!" said Eggman in utter disarray. "You said this thing would kill that hedgehog!" he yelled at the cloaked figure.

"It's okay, said the cloaked figure. He will be out permanently soon. All you have to do is get him to run at his maximum speed and he will be out of the picture for good."

"…Very well," said Eggman. "I know just the way."

"We'll get it checked out soon enough," said Sonic. "For now, let's get out of here!"

"Right," agreed Tails. They began to run out through the now opened exit. They entered an elevator.

"Alright," said Sonic. "Which floor should we go-" Eggman cut the cable. "TOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" They landed on the bottom floor of the fortress.

"Are you all right?" asked Tails.

"I-I think so," said Sonic. He looked up. He saw a huge room practically the size of a stadium before him. Eggman came down in a hovering platform, with the cloaked figure standing hidden behind him.

"Grah! It seems you have survived my Egg Laser somehow. But! I'd like to see how you will fare against my new and improved Metal Sonic Mk IV!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Sonic with a smirk. "Let's just see how tough this 'new and improved' fella is!" Eggman had a devilish grin on his face and released Metal Sonic from his station. Metal Sonic looked at Sonic and quickly zipped ahead. "Get back here, coward!" said Sonic and chased after him. Metal Sonic sped up. "Weird," thought Sonic. "Even I've never run THIS fast before. Could this be an effect of that laser?" he thought as he looked at his arm. Metal Sonic sped up more, only tempting Sonic to accelerate even faster. The two of them kept going faster and faster until Metal Sonic finally stopped to a screeching halt and watched Sonic move ahead. Sonic couldn't slow down, however, at the speed he was already going. All of a sudden, he froze in place.

"Sonic?" called Tails. He walked up to Sonic's frozen form and circled around him. Suddenly, Sonic's frozen body vanished into a dark circle which immediately disappeared.

Eggman looked back at the cloaked figure. "Ahh! Of course!" he said with a smile. "Excellent idea!" Eggman left the platform and walked up to Tails.

"What-what did you do to him?" asked Tails, beginning to cry again. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?!" he asked again in fury.

"Ho ho ho ho!" laughed Eggman. "I guess I tricked you there. The laser did not kill your friend. Nothing did. What it did was actually multiply his speed greatly. But, Sonic seems to have run a bit too fast. Being smart as you are, I'm sure you'll understand. See, he just hit the speed of light! Going that fast… well… he seems to have been sucked into a self-generated singularity! Perhaps he'll pop up seconds from now or an alternate universe entirely. But, I'm not going to wait a millennium or anything to see where or when he ends up, I've got work to do. Eggman walked back onto the platform and it began to ascend. The figure was gone, but Eggman was too excited to notice. "I'll see you, Tails," said Eggman. "When the world is mine."


	7. Chapter 6: Shortcut to Apocalypse

**Chapter 6: Shortcut to Apocalypse**

It was in a dark, burning wasteland. Sonic's frozen body emerged out of nowhere and landed on the ground below. Sonic was able to move again, but just barely. He was lying on the ground, face down and weak. He slowly got up. His black glow was still there, but much weaker. He slowly looked up, then left and right. He saw a barren, smoldering, mostly destroyed city in the darkness around him. Sonic carefully stood up, wondering where (and even when) he was. "Nice view, eh, Sonic?" said a voice behind him.

Sonic turned around. He saw the cloaked figure standing behind him. This was their first face-to-face encounter. "Wh-who are you?" asked Sonic. "And where am I? …and how do you know my name?"

"Questions, questions." said the cloaked figure. "Can't you just enjoy things as they are without needing to know everything?"

"How am I supposed to enjoy THIS?" asked Sonic. "What happened here?"

"Why, Sonic," said the figure. "Don't you remember? You were here once before. Perhaps THIS will refresh your memory." The figure whistled. The ground began to shake. A familiar, fiery beast emerged from the ground.

"The Ifrit!" cried Sonic. "It's still alive!?!"

"Of course!" said the figure. "My pet is like a massive phoenix. It always rises from its own ashes."

"Wait- your 'pet'?" said a confused Sonic. Are you saying you're behind all this!?!"

"More questions," said the figure. "Your curiosity amuses me. Listen, I don't have time for this. Tell you what, though: I will answer three of your queries if you can find me. For now, let's see if you can handle my Ifrit again. Until we meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog!" With that, he vanished.

The Ifrit took a dive at Sonic. Sonic jumped out of the way and the Ifrit crashed into the ground. The monster shook its head and recoiled. Sonic then jumped on its back. The Ifrit spun around, trying to shake off Sonic, but Sonic held on tightly enough to stay on. He climbed up the beast's neck and stood on its head, right between the horns. The Ifrit looked for Sonic, unaware of his presence on its own skull. Then the Ifrit felt Sonic standing on him, so it attempted to ram his head into a burning structure in the decaying city. Unfortunately for the fiery creature, Sonic jumped off its head and onto its back, just as its horns got stuck in the wall! "Take this!" said Sonic, as spun into a ball and smashed right into its head while he struggled for freedom. The Ifrit roared and blasted fire from its mouth. It fell from the structure with its horns ripping off part of the building's wall, and lay on the ground, completely out cold.

"That takes care of that," said Sonic. "Now where did that guy get to?" Sonic dashed through the city's remains looking for clues to where the mysterious figure disappeared to.


	8. Chapter 7: The Question Game

**Chapter 7: The Question Game**

Sonic was confident he would find the strange figure, but he also had subconscious doubts that he may ever return home. He sat down to rest on a piece of rubble.

"I know I've been here before," thought out loud. "I need to get out of this place, but I need the Chaos Emeralds to open a portal out of here. Wait a moment- maybe if I run fast enough, I can warp again, just like I did before!" Sonic stood up, and began to rev up his feet, and dashed forward as fast as he could. Unfortunately, it was not as fast as he had hoped for, as the effect from the laser had mostly worn off. However, as he ran, he ended up far beyond the edge of the city. He saw a strange, triangular mass on the horizon. He ran toward it, in hopes of finding his "friend".

As he approached it, he saw it was a large pyramid. He took a deep breath and entered the building. As he entered, his foot pressed down on a switch-like brick, causing the door to close behind him, leaving him in pure darkness. Just then, some torches lit symmetrically, two-by-two down a long hallway. Sonic nervously walked forward, following the path the torches had illuminated. At the end of the path, he saw an inscription on the wall.

The words inscribed were: "Ye who wish to awaken Antis from His slumber, speak the Words of Deimagna to the Great Seal."

"What does this mean?" thought Sonic. "Deimagna? Antis? Great Seal?" Sonic closed his eyes to think, but could not think of what to do.

"Quite a perplexing riddle, is it not?" said a voice behind him. It was the cloaked figure.

"Do you know what the answer is?" asked Sonic.

"Not yet," the figure replied. "And you have two more questions left."

Sonic was about to speak, but did not, and just gave him a dirty look. "Alright. Number two, then," said Sonic. "What is this world?" The figure looked directly into Sonic's eyes.

"Firstly, I must confess, Sonic. Dr. Eggman did not intend to send you here, I did. I tricked the good doctor so I could sabotage his laser to make you fast enough to run beyond the speed of light. Of course, your universe's inferior physics could not handle such speed, so you were sent through time and space, ending you up into another universe entirely." Sonic gave the figure a confused, yet angry look. "Now, to answer your question," said the figure, "good and evil are polar opposites in a neutral world. Where one does not exist, it must be balanced somewhere else. This is that 'somewhere else.' All goodness in your world is mirrored by evil here and vice versa. Last question."

Sonic was wondering what to ask him. "I have many more questions. But I guess I have to ask you this one: how do I get home?"

"Only you know how, Sonic. The answer to this riddle is not in our world, but it is in yours. In my years of research, I have yet to find it, but I do know it is a phrase that activates your 'Chaos Emeralds.' I assume you know of such a phrase?"

Sonic thought to himself. He remembered a line Knuckles had spoken when trying to activate the Master Emerald on the Space Colony Ark, though he could not remember the words to it. "I know I've heard it, but I cannot remember it," Sonic said.

"Well then," said the cloaked figure, "I guess you'll be stuck here for the time being. The door is open now, I'm sure you'll see yourself out." Sonic walked past the figure and ran out the pyramid's entrance. The figure just smiled and disappeared.


	9. Chapter 8: Guardian Android

**Chapter 8: Guardian Android**

Sonic sat on top of the pyramid trying to figure out what his next action should be. As he sat there, he noticed a strange mountain on the horizon. He saw a flashing beacon on the peak. Curious to find what it was, he quickly ran to the mountain. As he ran to the mountain, he heard a strange beeping noise. Suddenly, a round orb was shot out of the top of the mountain in Sonics direction. It landed before him with a thud. The orb began to change shape. Sonic withdrew a bit, wondering what it was. Finally, the orb transformed into a hominid, silver robot about seven feet tall. It was labeled "N-207" A laser came out of the robot's eye, targeting Sonic. "TARGET LOCKED," said N-207 in a monotonous, electronic voice.

"Uh-oh!" said Sonic. He could tell there was going to be trouble. He quickly jumped to the side just as the robot's arms turned into machine guns and began to fire bullets at Sonic. Sonic tried to attack N-207, but it was emitting a strange force field that repelled him. The robot just continued to attack Sonic, so Sonic had no choice but to retreat. He ran as fast as he could toward the mountain.

"PURSUING TARGET," said the robot, as it saw Sonic run away. The robot activated its jets and chased after Sonic. The robot sent out a powerful pulse using its force field. The pulse used a strange psychic energy, holding Sonic in place. The robot caught up with Sonic and aimed its gun directly at his face.

"SURRENDER YOURSELF," said N-207, "OR FACE OBLITERATION."

Sonic struggled to escape the robot's hold, but to no avail. "What do you want with me?" asked Sonic.

"MY CREATOR HAS PLACED A SECURITY FIELD AROUND HIS FORTRESS TO PREVENT YOU FROM DESTROYING IT. HE HAS SPECIFICALLY PROGRAMMED ME TO LOCATE YOU," explained N-207.

"Really now," said Sonic, confused, yet somewhat amused. "Why would he seek me? I've never even been to this world before!"

"HIGHLY IMPROBABLE," said the robot. "HE HAS PLACED A LOCK ON YOUR GENETIC CODE."

Sonic was in total bewilderment right now. He realized he had no choice but to surrender. "Alright," he said. "You win. What do you want?"

"VERY WELL," said N-207. "IF YOU WISH TO LIVE, TURN 180 DEGREES, WALK FORWARD INDEFINATELY, AND DO NOT RETURN TO THIS MOUNTAIN." The robot released Sonic from his hold.

Sonic turned back the way he came and ran away. He looked back at the robot. "I wonder what that was about," thought Sonic. "Who is this 'creator'?" Sonic, though nervous, decided he had to figure out what was going on. He ran back to N-207.

N-207 lifted his gun. "HALT. OUR TERMS OF AGREEMENT WERE CLEAR. DO NOT APPROACH THIS MOUNTAIN."

"Relax, big guy!" said Sonic rather calmly. "I just want to know a few things." The robot put his gun down, but was still alert.

"VERY WELL. WHAT ARE YOUR QUERIES?"

"Who is your creator?"

"MY CREATOR HAS INSTRUCTED ME TO KEEP HIS NAME ANONYMOUS."

"Alright then. Why does he want me?"

"MY CREATOR DID NOT PROGRAM ME TO KNOW HIS PURPOSES. ONLY TO GUARD HIS FORTRESS."

"Some help you are," said Sonic, somewhat ticked. "Any way I can meet this 'creator' of yours?"

"MY CREATOR STATED THERE ARE ONLY THREE WAYS HE WOULD ALLOW ME TO TAKE YOU INTO HIS FORTRESS: UNCONSCIOUS, COMATOSE, OR DECEASED, MAINLY FOR SECURITY PURPOSES."

"Personally, I'd rather asked him my questions alive, thank you very much." Sonic began to think what he should do. "Alright, give me 'unconscious', but nothing painful, thank you very much."

"VERY WELL," said N-207. "EMITTING ONEIROGENIC GAS IN 3…2…1." The robot opened a small flap on its chestplate, revealing a tube like device. A strange, pink gas began to spray out very quickly. The gas made Sonic tired and caused him to fall asleep. "TARGET IS NOW UNCONSCIOUS. RECOVERING BODY."

N-207 picked up Sonic's sleeping body, deployed his rockets, and brought him up the mountain.


	10. Chapter 9: Tripolarity

**Chapter 9: Tripolarity**

It was an hour later when Sonic finally awoke. He stood up and looked around. He found himself in a jail cell with a force field blocking his way out. Beyond it, he could see a very high tech lab containing several computers and gadgets. "Ahh, so you finally came to," said a familiar voice. Someone approached Sonic's cage. It appeared to be Tails, yet much taller and in a white lab coat.

"T-Tails… is that you?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah, it's me," said Tails. "Believe me Sonic, I was just as surprised to see you here as you are to see me."

"What happened, Tails? You seem… older."

"15 years, Sonic. That's how long it's been since we last laid eyes on each other."

Sonic was almost speechless. "15 years!?! Impossible… I just saw you a few hours ago!"

"That's how it works, Sonic," said Tails, "when you surpass the speed of light. Remember when you chased Metal Sonic? Then you teleported? Well, space isn't the only thing you traversed." Tails walked over to the side of the containment cell. "Let me get you out of there." Tails pushed a few buttons on the side of the cell, deactivating the force field. Sonic, though still in shock, walked out. He looked around at all the advanced technology in the laboratory.

"I can see you've really made some progress since we last met," said Sonic.

"Thanks," said Tails.

Sonic paused for a second. "Hey, since I came here, I've been told this is another world. Another universe entirely, infact. How did you get here, anyway?"

"Heh, I was wondering when you'd ask," said Tails. "It started not to long after you left. With you gone, Eggman found it much easier to execute his plans. He used the seven Chaos Emeralds to power a new machine of his. He called it the 'Egg Core.' It was a device that extracted energy directly from the Chaos Emeralds with 100 efficiency. In other words, it could harness unlimited energy. He used that device to threaten the world into submission. Sonic, Earth is now Eggman Land."

Sonic was now truly thunderstruck. "Never thought I'd see the day," he said.

"Anyway," said Tails, "at the time, I was desperate to find you, and I wouldn't give up, no matter what. I was able to use this strange chip that I found. I don't know where it came from, but I found it in my lab. I was able to find vast amounts of data in it, but I still don't understand it completely. But I did find that was able to cause unlimited acceleration. After careful study, I hypothesized that this may have been what caused you to reach the speed of light. I attached it to the Tornado 4 to turn it into a machine that could travel through time and space, but only once. I used it to track you down to another point in time and space. For some reason, it brought me nearly 15 years before you arrived. The chip lost power after that, and now I'm stranded in this desolate world."

"Huh…," said Sonic. "But there's one thing I don't understand. Why would you track me to 15 years before I arrived?"

"It was very odd," said Tails, "but it appears your genetic code was present 15 years before your arrival. It seems to belong to someone else, but I don't know who it is. All I know is that he was trying to sabotage my lab. That's why I had to build my defense robot. Oh, right, you'll have to forgive him for trying to kill you," he said, somewhat embarrassed.

Sonic was confused. "I never tried to attack your lab, and I doubt I would in the future. What would make me do that?"

"I don't know," said Tails, "but this is a mystery I've been trying to solve since I arrived. That and how to return home."

"Do you have any clue how we can?" asked Sonic.

"I only have one Chaos Emerald with me, but without the ability to perform Chaos Control or possession of all seven Emeralds, we're stuck. Hmm…" he began to think. "But… there may be another possibility." Tails approached a computer and began to type. "If we can obtain an item with an exact contrary wavelength and polarity, the opposing energy should be able to create an infinite curvature in space-time."

Sonic was dumbstruck. "English, please?"

"Basically, if we can get something with exactly the opposite properties of my Chaos Emerald, we could create a wormhole that could take us home."

"Alright!" said Sonic. "Where would we get this thing?"

"Hmm… hey, Sonic! Remember the Sol Emeralds from Blaze's universe?"

"Oh, yeah!" said Sonic. "Are we in her universe?"

"I don't know," said Tails. "We could be able to search this universe for…" Tails looked at his computer screen. "Wait a minute… what's this?"

"What's going on?" asked Sonic?

"The Chaos Emeralds… they seem to exhibit some sort of… tripolarity. They have TWO kinds of polar opposites!"

"Is that… possible?" asked Sonic. "When I see magnets, I can really only think of two sides."

"Apparently, yes. It seems that one of those 'opposites' exist in this universe! Sonic, you go locate one. I'll try to set up the device that will create the wormhole."

"Gotcha!" said Sonic. "I'll see you later!" He ran right for the exit.


	11. Chapter 10: A Deal With A Devil

**Chapter 10: A Deal With A Devil**

Sonic left Tails' mountain base in search of the an 'opposite' to the Chaos Emerald, but, of course, not without a device that could track the wavelength of one of these opposites. After he dashed out of the mountain, he turned on the tracker. A flashing light appeared on the screen that appeared to be in the upper left corner, leading Sonic to believe the target was northwest of his position. He looked in that direction, and ran head on in that direction. He arrived at the decaying city near the location from which he arrived at this world.

Sonic walked inside the city and looked around. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called. No answer, not to his surprise. He looked at the tracker again. The signal was coming from right below him. He looked about three feet in front of him and saw a manhole in the middle of the street. Seeing no other possibility, Sonic used the latter inside to descend into the manhole.

When he got to the bottom of the hole, he walked forward but didn't see anything. "Looking for this?" said a familiar voice behind him.

Sonic turned around and saw the cloaked figure once again, holding a point cut, red gem. "So, you've been spying on me, have you?" said Sonic.

"'Spying' is such a negative word," said the figure. "I like to think of it as 'supervising.'"

Sonic ignored him. "So… yes, I am looking for that."

"Alrighty then," said the figure. "It's all yours." The figure is about to hand the gem to Sonic, but he quickly withdraws it before Sonic can grab it. "But first," he said, "I can't let something this powerful go for free, oh no."

"Alright," said Sonic. "What do you want for it?"

"Nothing material," replied the figure. "I just ask you, when you return to your world, find the answer to the pyramid's riddle. Then meet me and we shall solve it."

"Why do you want to solve the riddle?" asked Sonic. "And why do you need me to do it?"

"You've already used all three questions, Sonic."

"Well, if you don't tell me, then we have no deal."

The figure held up his emerald to Sonic's face. "Look inside," he said. "What do you see."

Sonic looked close inside the emerald. He saw a giant castle shaped like Eggmans face, watching over a dreary, dystopic city.

"This is your world, Sonic," said the figure. "Eggman has conquered it without you there to stop him. Without this emerald, you will be stranded here for eternity. Only you can return to your world and to stop him. But, you won't be able to end his reign of terror if you can't return, now can you?"

"I'm not going to help you," said Sonic. "But I'm not going to sit idly by while Eggman does this to my world either. I guess, I'm going to just have to take it from you." He quickly runs toward the figure, about to attack him, but the figure raises his left hand and Sonic stops in his tracks and begins to float, as does the cloaked figure.

Tiny blue particles begin to move in from all directions, surrounding the two of them. He then swipes his hand toward the ground below Sonic, causing the particles to fly below Sonic as well. Sonic lands face first on to the ground, while the figure just lands gently where he was. More and more particles move toward the ground Sonic is lying on, beginning to put pressure on him. "W-what's going on," asked Sonic, weakly.

"You had two choices Sonic," said the figure angrily. "If you do not comply with either, I will not let you live. The ground beneath you is becoming a stronger and stronger center of gravity as we speak, Sonic. If you do not decide, you will be crushed under your own weight."

"L-like to play rough, dontcha?" said Sonic. "Well, I-I guess I have n-no choice." The blue light dissipated from the ground under Sonic, allowing him to stand up. Sonic coughed very hard, as the pressure squeezed his lungs.

"So, you have reached a decision them?" said the figure.

"Alright, then," said Sonic. "I guess I'll have to take you on later. But for now, give me the emerald. I have work to do."

"Very well, then," said the figure. He handed Sonic the emerald, and Sonic began to climb back up the ladder. "Don't forget our deal," he said to Sonic. "Or else."

"Don't worry," said Sonic as he climbed the ladder. "I'm a hedgehog of my word."


	12. Chapter 11: Going Home

**Chapter 11: Going Home**

As Sonic left the city, he looked for the mountain with the beacon on the peak. He saw it to his right and ran there straight away. Fortunately, Tails' had turned off the security robot. Sonic stood outside the doors. A camera descended from the ceiling above him. It scanned his entire body. "IDENTITY CONFIRMED AS: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. WELCOME," said the computer. The doors opened up.

"So, you've returned Sonic," said Tails. "Any luck?"

"Check for yourself!" said Sonic, as he chucked his emerald to Tails.

"Very good!" said Tails. He looked at the emerald closely. Hmm… this is definitely a new kind of emerald. I'm going to have to do some research on this when we get back home. Come on, Sonic!" Sonic nodded and followed Tails back to the lab's main chamber.

"Alright," said Tails, now let's put these emeralds in the Tornado 4. Tails pressed some buttons on a module next two a fairly large, steel door. The door opened up, revealing the Tornado 4. It resembled the previous one, but it was somewhat larger, had a greater wingspan, among dozens of new features. "Wow, Tails!" said Sonic. "You really did a good job on it!"

"Thanks!" said Tails. Tails opened a case on the Tornado's beak and inserted the blue Chaos Emerald that he had. He then put the newly acquired red emerald into the plane's laser. He also picked up two full body jumpsuits, one yellow and one blue, by the plane that matched the shape of both his and Sonic's bodies. "These uniforms have a special graviton shielding. They will prevent us from being affected by the gravitational pull of the wormhole. Put it on!" He handed the blue one to Sonic, who dressed up while Tails got into his.

"Alright," said Tails. "No more time to waste. We need to get back to our home world." He was about to hop into the plane, but then jumped back out. "Oh! I almost forgot some things!" He ran back to his main computer and pulled out a chip from the console. "I can't leave without the data from all the research I did here!" He ran back to the plane and jumped into the pilot seat. "Hop in Sonic!" Sonic jumped into the plane's passenger seat.

Tails shut the door that contained the plane. It was actually an elevator. They rode the elevator to the bottom level of Tails' laboratory, which appeared to be a long runway. "Sure you know what you're doing Tails?" asked Sonic.

"It's all under control," said Tails. "I made sure that this would safely take us back to our world while you were gone." Tails looked at his dashboard and typed on his keyboard. "Alright, first thruster, on." One of the plane's boosters ignited. He typed some more in. "Second thruster, on." The second booster ignited. "Last thruster, on." The third booster ignited. "Okay, Sonic, are you ready?"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Let's go!" he said with a grin.

Tails nodded in acknowledgement. Then the plane boosted forward, accelerating rapidly. "Okay, let's do this." Tails pushed a red button on the left of his dash board, shooting a beam of light from the Chaos Emerald in the front compartment of the plane. He shot the laser containing the other emerald parallel to it. Then, he aimed it downward so the ray would cross with that of the Chaos Emerald. At the point, the intersected at, a large vortex appeared before them that began to suck them in.

"Here we go!" said Sonic in excitement, as the plane flew directly into the wormhole.


	13. Chapter 12: Home Sweet Dystopia

**Chapter 12: Home Sweet Dystopia**

It was a vast plain under a twilit, dawn sky. Suddenly, anomalous, pulsating ripples appeared in midair. The ripples eventually solidified into a vortex, out of which Sonic and Tails rode the Tornado 4 out of. The wormhole quickly closed after Sonic and Tails emerged. The plane came to a screeching halt on the ground below, thrusting Sonic and Tails to the edge of their seats.

"You okay, Sonic?" asked Tails.

"That was quite a wild ride!" said Sonic. He jumped out of the plane and removed his antigravity suit. "Where are we?"

Tails removed his suit as well. "I'm not sure, but my computer says we're back home."

Sonic looked at the ground below him and kicked his left foot against the soil. "We should find the nearest sign of civilization."

Tails agreed. "Maybe we should split up. You go north, I'll go south. I'll contact you if I find out anything, and vice versa. Take this." He handed Sonic a walkie-talkie. Sonic just gave a thumbsup, nodded and ran due north, directed by the sun's position in the sky.

Sonic soon came upon a green forest. He looked up at the trees, glad to be home. Yet, he could not get the vision of that destroyed world out of his mind. He's still wondering about that figure. Should he trust the figure? Should he keep the promise? He just seemed to let his mind wander as he ran through the forest. At the end of the forest he stood on a tall rock at the edge of the forest. As he ascended it, he found himself facing a city a few miles away. It was no ordinary city, however- Sonic could not see how from the distance he was, but it definitely had an abrnormal skyline- the buildings were bulbous and odd lights shone into the sky. Sonic picked up his walkie-talkie. "Tails, I found a city. Just fly up north. Pick me up on the large rock past the forest."

"Roger," he heard Tails say over the speaker.

Sonic waited about five minutes, when he saw the Tornado 4 above him. Sonic waved his arms up to Tails, who then landed the plane next to him.

"Hop in, Sonic!" said Tails. "Let's see what's going on in this city."

Sonic hopped into the Tornado 4, looking at the strange city. As they approached, Tails heard a voice over his plane's speaker.

"Halt," said the voice. "You are in a no-fly zone. Please land your aircraft immediately." Tails had no choice and landed his plane on the outskirts of the city.

"Sorry, Sonic," said Tails, "but it looks like we're going to have to foot it from here on in."

"No problem!" said Sonic. "'Footing it' is my specialty!" He hopped out of the plane along with Tails. They walked into the city and noticed on all the buildings a familiar emblem: it was the white spray of Eggman's face all over the place.

"It appears we came back to the time after Eggman took over the world," said Tails. "It's highly probable we arrived at the corrosponding moment in time to how long I spent in the other universe- 15 years in the future."

"So, are you saying this is the so-called 'Eggman Land'?" asked Sonic.

"No," said Tails. "It's the Eggman Planet."


	14. Chapter 13: Shadow Ex Machina

**Chapter 13: Shadow Ex Machina**

"What do we do now?" asked Sonic.

"First things first," said Tails. "We need to find Eggman and end his reign of terror!"

Sonic and Tails were touring the dystopic city in search of Eggman himself, but to no avail. Unbeknownst to them, a camera on the side of a building was watching them.

At the other end of the camera was a security robot. It was a hominid, silver robot with a tall head one red light for an eye. Its chassis had a label that said "SCR HDv2". The security robot observed the screen displaying Sonic and Tails. The robot pushed a button on the keyboard in front of it, creating a split screen on the monitor with the camera display on the left and the image of a DNA molecule on the right. The computer was searching its database to see if they were truly Sonic in Tails from a genetic image. In about 5 seconds it displayed the words "match found". The robot stood up from its post and walked into another room. Inside the room was Dr. Eggman, eating a gourmet lunch.

Eggman's mustache was now grey and his skin was slightly more wrinkled since fifteen years ago, but he was still as active as ever. "SCR!" he said rather crossly. "How dare you disturb me while I'm eating!"

"MY APOLOGIES LORD ROBOTNIK," said HD, "BUT I HAVE URGENT INFORMATION." Out of his red eye came a holographic image of the camera display of Sonic and Tails.

Eggman was so shocked he spit out his lunch. He slammed his hands on the table in anger. "WHAT!?! I thought I eliminated that pesky hedgehog over a decade ago! Hmm… well, since he's returned, why don't we give him a little 'welcome home' present. Deploy the Badnik army at once! I want them back here dead or alive!"

"AS YOU WISH, LORD ROBOTNIK."

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails had just entered the center of the city. "Any clues yet, Tails?" asked Sonic. "Nothing yet, Sonic," replied Tails. "Just keep loo-" They were interrupted by a flashing red light accompanied by an alarm.

"What's going on?" asked Sonic. Suddenly, a large monitor on the side of one of the skyscrapers turned on. It was Eggman.

"Welcome back, Sonic!" said Eggman. "It's been quite a while, has it not?"

"It's Eggman!" said Sonic. "He knows we're here!"

"I can see you're quite a hardy one. But I'm about to take you out once and for all." Suddenly, lasers emerged from the ends of the streets trapping Sonic and Tails in the middle of the city. "As we speak, my personal robot army is coming to eliminate you for good. They should be here in about… now. Have fun!" With that, the screen turned off, as thousands of robots jumped out of the sky. They were eight foot tall, silver, armored automotons with many various weapons on their hands.

"COMMENCE FIRE!" they said as they started shooting at Sonic. Sonic jumped out of the way, curling into a ball, and attacked them one by one, causing them to combust. However, more and more came from the sky indefinately.

After about an hour of fighting the robots, Sonic started to pant. "I-I can't take them on anymore. There are too many. We have to get out of here Tails!"

"I can't get rid of these laser walls Sonic! What do we do?" Just then, a shady character appeared on top of a building. It jumped down from the top of the building and stood up before Sonic and Tails. It was Shadow.

"Shadow!" said Sonic.

"We'll talk later, Sonic," said Shadow. "Give me your Chaos Emerald."

"How did you know I had-," said Sonic, before being interrupted again.

"GIVE ME THE EMERALD!!!" said Shadow angrily.

"Alright, jeez!" said Sonic. "Tails! The emerald!"

"Oh, right!" said Tails, taking out his emerald. He gave it to Sonic.

"Here, catch!" cried Sonic as he threw the Chaos Emerald to Shadow.

"Chaos Control!" said Shadow, warping the three of them away.

Watching this on screen, Eggman was frustrated. "Gahh! That Shadow! But… at least I know where the last Chaos Emerald is. Ho ho ho ho!!!"


	15. Chapter 14: Subterrainian Reunion

**Chapter 14: Subterrainian Reunion**

In a deep, underground corridor, Sonic, Tails, and Shadow all emerged from the Chaos Control. "That was a close one," said Shadow with his usual mysterious, monotonous tone. "Rule number one, Sonic: Eggman is no joke, anymore; don't mess with him."

"Good to see you again too, Shadow," said Sonic, sarcastically noting Shadow's lack of enthusiasm, despite that they haven't seen each other for fifteen years. Shadow ignored him. Sonic looked at Shadow. "You haven't aged a bit."

Shadow let out a light chuckle. "Yeah, well I guess immortality has its perks." He turned to Sonic. "I guess I could say the same about you. So, what happened while you were gone?"

Sonic just smiled. "Well, I surpassed the speed of light, transporting me to another world fifteen years in the future where I met some guy in a hood who almost crushed me to death by multiplying the gravity around me, then I was released after I made a deal with him, and was brought back by Tails here who found me in that world somehow. Nothing special. How about you?"

Shadow was silent for a moment. "… What kind of deal did you make with that guy?"

"Well, he said I had to find out for him some phrase relating to the Chaos Emeralds, and in return, he gave me another kind of emerald Tails and I used to return home along with the Chaos Emerald. …Speaking of which, how did you know we had the Chaos Emerald in the first place?"

"Because I'm the one who let you use it."

"What do you mean, Shadow?"

"See, after Eggman took over the world, I was trying to find a way to dethrone the man. I was only able to steal one Chaos Emerald from him before he set up the Egg Core. I assume you've been told about it." Sonic nodded. "Anyway, he's been chasing me until I met up with Tails. He was working on an invention to locate you, but need to powered by a Chaos Emerald. So to get Eggman off my back, I agreed to give Tails the emerald to find you."

"I see," said Sonic. "Is that true, Tails?"

"Yup," said Tails. "I would've told you earlier, but… I didn't really have a reason to."

"You could have had better timing, though," said Shadow.

"Yeah, well better late than never," said Tails. Shadow ignored him and turned back to Sonic.

"And another thing Sonic… you mentioned another kind of emerald? Can I see it?"

"Oh, this one?" Sonic took out the red, point-cut emerald given to him by the cloaked figure. He handed it to Shadow.

"Ah…" said Shadow. "This could be what we're looking for."

"What do you mean?"

"Come," he said. He pushed a few buttons by his side, and a metallic door opened up in front of him. "I'll explain inside." Sonic looked at Tails, wondering if he had an explaination or knew where they were. Tails just shrugged, as he was unaware of anything that happened on Earth since he left fifteen years ago.

Sonic and Tails followed Shadow into a large, metallic room. There were a couple of computers and other technologies. Sonic looked around. "Nice place ya got, here," he said. "What's the rent on it?"

Suddenly, a door on the opposite end of the room opened. Amy Rose, now about thirty years old, walked out of the door. "Shadow, your back!" she said. "Wait a minute… is that So…Son…" she was speechless. "SONIC!!!" She dashed across the room, arms wide open and hugged Sonic with all of her strength.

"Amy… your choking me…" said Sonic, but she continued to squeeze him.

"Sonic, I can't believe it's really you," she began to cry tears of joy.

"I-I missed you to Amy, but can you let go now?" Amy let go, but she was still ecstatic about his return. She turned around and called. "Hey, guys! Guess who's back!"

Out of the same door came Knuckles, Big, Cream, Omega, Charmy and Vector, all fifteen years older, of course. Knuckles and Cream walked up to Sonic and Tails, and While Omega, Vector, and Charmy came up to Shadow. Big just stood still and scratched his head.

"Sonic! Tails!" said Knuckles. "I can't believe this! I never would have thought you survived that incident!"

"Yeah!" said Cream. "It's good to see you two are back in one piece."

"Knuckles!" said Sonic. "Good to see you're okay. How's the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles just frowned. "Don't remind me."

"Something happened?" asked Tails.

"I-I don't want to talk about it," said Knuckles, sadly. "But… It's good to see you're both okay." Knuckles walked away.

"Don't talk to Knuckles about the Master Emerald," said Cream. "See, when Eggman created the Egg Core, he successfully stole the Master Emerald right out of Knuckles hands to control the machine. Since then, Knuckles has been down since he feels like as a failure as a guardian."

"Oh," said Tails. "I wish there was something we could do for him."

"Maybe, but there's no time to worry about that now. I need to get you two caught up. Follow me." They followed Cream through the door through which they entered.

Meanwhile, Omega, Vector, and Charmy were talking to Shadow. "DID THESE TWO RETRIEVE ANYTHING OF VALUE TO OUR MISSION?" asked Omega.

"You bet," said Shadow. "Take a look at this." He pulled out the point-cut emerald Sonic gave him.

"Ooh!" said Vector. "This could be the emerald we needed! Charmy, bring this back to the lab. We need to check this out!" Charmy took the emerald and nodded. He went back through the same door Cream, Sonic and Tails went through.

Shadow looked at Omega and Vector. "If this is it, the time to attack is imminent."


	16. Chapter 15: The Master Plan

**Chapter 15: The Master Plan**

Sonic and Tails followed Cream through the door into another big room "So, where are we anyway?" asked Tails.

"Basically, all of us have created an underground hideout to stay out of Eggmans reach. At this depth, he won't be able to detect us," said Cream.

"How deep are we?" asked Sonic.

"About 40 miles deep," said Cream.

"No wonder it's so hot in here," said Tails. "We're in the Earth's mantle!"

"Right," said Cream. "This is as high as we could make our base without being in Eggman's range of detection. We have a great cooling system, but it can't keep out ALL the heat. Fortunately, we do have a lot of geothermal energy at hand." Cream pointed to a large, glowing, red capsule at the other side of the room.

"Wow!" said Tails. "How much energy do you have in here."

"About half the energy in the sun," said Cream.

"Woah, that's a lot!" said Tails.

"You've definitely gotten smarter since we last met, Cream," said Sonic.

"Yeah, well, a lot can change in fifteen years," said Cream. She turned back to the capsule. "We've been using some of this energy to power our hideout. Most of the energy we're saving up to fight Eggman. But now that we have the Chaos Emerald, it all may as well just be backup."

Charmy walked back into the room from another door on the east end of the room. "I put the emerald in the safe."

"Good, Charmy," said Cream. Charmy walked through the door from which Sonic entered to meet up with the others.

"So… how do you get up to the surface from here?" Sonic asked Cream.

"We don't go often," said Cream, "But when we do, we use that super fast elevator over there." She pointed to a round platform with a grassy surface. "I put a grassy texture on the surface to make it blend in with the surface, so it can stay on the surface unnoticed."

"Smart thinking!" said Sonic, giving a thumbsup.

"Actually, we just used it last week when we sent Rouge and Espio on a reconnaissance mission. We wanted them to spy on Dr. Eggman so we could find the Egg Core and take him down once and for all. But… they haven't returned yet. I hope they're okay." She looked at the floor rather sadly. Just then, Vector, Shadow and Omega walked into the room.

"Cream!" said Shadow. "We just got this from Sonic and Tails." He held up the odd, point-cut emerald. "Could you test this to see if it's related to the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Sure!" said Cream. "I just need to-" She was interrupted by Tails.

"No need," said Tails. "I already worked with this emerald back when I was with Sonic in the other world. It exhibits an inverse wavelength to the Chaos Emerald. When I researched them, I saw they have a 'tripolarity'. There's another type of emerald out there with another kind of opposite property. I can't explain it, but I do believe it may be another set of emeralds called the 'Sol Emeralds' we dealt with a long time ago."

"Sol Emeralds…" said Cream. "They sound familiar somehow… Wait a minute. Are you talking about those emeralds Blaze had?"

"WE WON'T NEED THEM NOW," said Omega. "ONE POLARITY SHOULD SUFFICE."

"What do you mean?" asked Sonic.

"It's our plan," said Shadow. "We've been trying to develop an item that would have the opposite of all the properties the Chaos Emerald possesses, but to no avail. We believe that putting this emerald in the Egg Core should sabotage the device."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" said Sonic. "One thing though: where is this 'Egg Core?'"

"Actually, we haven't found that out yet," said Cream. "Like I said, that's why we sent out Rouge and Espio. Since they haven't come back yet, we have no idea."

"Well, then," said Sonic. "I guess the only way we're going to take out Eggman is to find Rouge and Espio!"


	17. Chapter 16: Super Security

**Chapter 16: Super Security**

The Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Omega, left the base via the elevator to begin their new rescue mission. The rest stayed behind in the base. They arrived in a grassy valley. "Alright!" said Sonic. "We're following your lead, Shadow!"

"Okay, then," said Shadow. "Eggman's HQ is this way." He pointed north, and ran in that direction followed by the rest of the group.

About a half hour later, they finally reached a towering, metallic, red structure that rose above the clouds! "I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that's Eggman's base," said Sonic.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" said Knuckles sarcastically.

"FOCUS ON THE MISSION," said Omega. "LET'S ENTER THE TOWER AT ONCE."

"Alright, alright," said Sonic. "Cool it, Omega." The group ran to the enterance, only to find the door is locked.

"IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED," said a voice coming from the entrance.

"Now what?" said Tails.

"FEAR NOT," said Omega. "FOR I WAS CONSTRUCTED BY EGGMAN. I SHOULD HAVE PROPER IDENTIFICATION TO ALLOW ACCESS."

Omega raised his arm and placed it in a hole by the doorway. "SCANNING," said the mechanism in the doorway. "ACCESS GRANTED." The doorway opened.

"Well, he's impatient, but he definitely comes in handy!" said Sonic. The team made haste into the entry.

They entered into a round room.. It had a very regal structure: a few chandeliers, fancy white wallpaper, and golden pillars lining the walls. "Nice place," said Sonic, looking around. "That egghead definitely has some fancy taste." Sonic began to run, but Shadow extended his hand to block him.

"Careful," said Shadow. "You don't know what kind of security this place has." Shadow looked up and saw a security camera. It didn't notice them yet, but Shadow didn't want to risk anything. He quickly jumped onto the camera and tore it out of its circuit.

"MALFUNCTION IN CAMERA A-2," said a mechanical voice. "Another camera came out of the ceiling as a replacement. It quickly spotted the group. "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" said the voice. "ENGAGING LOCKDOWN." A red light flashed and metal barriers closed over every exit to the room.

"Now you've done it, Shadow!" said Sonic.

"Don't look at me!" said Shadow, defensively. "It would've spotted us anyway!"

"DEPLOYING SENTINEL MECHS!" A group of hatches opened on the sealing, releasing a series of hovering robots with one large, green eye on their heads; silver, conical bodies; and large cannons for arms.

"CAPTURE INTRUDERS!" said one of the robots.

"Look out!" said Tails, who dived out of the way as one of the robots fired at him.

"I'll take 'em out!" said Knuckles who pulled back his fist, jumped, and punched one of the robots, completely eradicating it.

"Way to go, Knux!" said Sonic.

Knuckles stood there with pride for destroying the robot, but was unaware that another robot just fired at him. "Gah!" he said as he was hit by the robot.

"You okay, Knuckles?" asked Sonic.

"I-I'm fine," said Knuckles. "Just take care of the rest." Sonic nodded. He jumped, curled into a ball, and zipped straight through another robot, completely piercing its armor and destroying it. Omega began to shoot at the robots, and Shadow began to attack them as well. Soon enough, all of the robots were destroyed.

"ALL SENTINEL MECHS ELIMINATED," said the voice. "DEPLOYING NEXT WAVE." More robots began to appear from the hatches.

"Crud!" said Sonic. "We can't take these things on forever! Shadow! Can't you Chaos Control us out of here?"

"I can't take us all out of here with only one emerald!" he said. "Besides, I don't even think I can use Chaos Control with this emerald!"

Sonic looked around, trying to find an exit. "I got it!" he said. "Knuckles! See if you can punch through that metal gate!" He pointed at a blocked exit.

"Gotcha!" said Knuckles. He winded up his hand, and punched straight through the steel barrier. "Quick," he said. "Everyone in here!" The five of them ran through the door, and it shut behind them. They came into a very tight room that was just barely big enough to fit them all.

"That was a close one!" said Tails.

"This is a pretty small room," said Sonic.

"I think it's an elevator," said Shadow. "Maybe we can find Eggman at the top floor if it will take us there."

"INTRUDERS IN ELEVATOR. DISCONNECTING CABLE," said the voice.

"That doesn't sound good," said Sonic. The cable was cut, and they all quickly fell.

"WAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!" they all yelled.

They landed with a huge thud. "Everyone alright?" asked Tails.

"ALL SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL," said Omega.

"Fine," said Sonic.

"I'm good," said Shadow.

"Alright," said Knuckles. "But where are we now?" He punched through the elevator door. They walked out and found themselves in a dank hallway filled with barred cages. The group walked out.

"It looks like some sort of prison," said Sonic.

"Well, they spared no expense in security," said Shadow.

"C'mon!" said Knuckles. "We've got to get out of here!


	18. Chapter 17: Jailbreak

**Chapter 17:**** Jailbreak**

Sonic stepped forward into the prison's center. He looked around and saw it appeared to be constructed as a massive maze. "This place is enormous," he said. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"There must be another exit," said Tails. "Perhaps we should split up?"

"Not a good idea," said Shadow. "It's too easy to get lost on our own. Besides, what if more of those security drones find us?"

"Well then," said Knuckles, "What do you propose we do?"

Shadow quietly thought to himself. "Maybe… one of the prisoners here might know the way out.

"Alright," said Sonic, "Let's see if we can find someone here first. Let's go this way." He pointed to the left and began to dash through the maze, followed by the others.

Many hours have passed and they've yet to find a single prisoner who knows an exit. The team eventually came across came across a steel wall. "Crud, it's a dead end!" said Knuckles. He began to kick the wall in frustration.

"What do we do now?" asked Tails.

"I really hope that elevator wasn't the only way out," said Shadow.

"It's not," said a familiar, female voice.

"Who's there?" asked Knuckles, turning around. Everyone looked toward the other side of the hall. Inside a cell there were Rouge the Bat and Espio the Chameleon.

"Hey! Rouge! Espio!" said Tails with excitement and relief. "Are you okay?"

"We've been better," said Espio. "Can you… get us out?"

"We would," said Sonic, "but we don't have a key."

"NO NEED," said Omega. "I STILL HAVE ACCESS TO MANY OF EGGMAN'S UTILITIES AND DATA." He plugged his hand into a hole in the side of the cage and twisted it as he did with the building's entrance.

"ACCESS GRANTED," said an automated voice as the cage door opened.

"Whew…" said Rouge. "Good to finally be out of THAT trainwreck. Thanks, Omega." She looked at Sonic. "Been a while, Sonic. Despite what happened, I always had a feeling I haven't seen the last of you."

"We can have this little reunion later," said Shadow. "Did you two get any information on your mission?"

"Sadly, we didn't get too far in before we were caught," said Espio. "But we did manage to swipe a little piece of info from Eggman's computer. We don't know what it is, but we do know it has something to do with the location of the Egg Core."

"Alright, good," said Shadow. "Now all that's left is to find a way out of here."

"Well," said Rouge, "we were taken here through a teleporter nearby. Maybe we can use that."

"Alright!" said Sonic. "Where is it, then?"

"We believe it was this way," said Rouge, pointing to her right. "Follow us!" She and Espio ran ahead, followed by Sonic and his friends.

In not too many minutes, they reached a very large room. In the center was a big, metallic capsule with several gadgets surrounding it.

"Here we are," said Espio. "Let's see if we can use this-" Suddenly, the center of the teleporter started to shine.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Knuckles. The light faded, and there appeared Dr. Eggman himself.

"Dr. Eggman!" exclaimed Tails.

"What, you didn't expect my prison to have poor security, did you?" said Eggman. "I must admit, you've all come pretty far, and you have my congratulations. But your shenanigans end now." He walked out of the teleporter and pushed a few buttons on a portable remote he was carrying. The teleporter lowered into the ground. "No way out now!" He pressed another button on his remote. "Release E-400000!" he said into a microphone.

"E-400000?" said Sonic. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. The ceiling opened up, releasing a massive robot roughly 3 stories tall. It had four skinny legs, attaching at a narrow metal column for a body. At the top of the body was a giant crystalline "head".

"I'd like to introduce you all to my newest creation, the Egg Phage," said Eggman. "I'd like to see you all try to beat this monstrosity! Ahahahaha!!!" he laughed. Dr. Eggman ran aside, and the robot stepped forward and made some erratic movements. It locked on to Sonic and his six friends and let out a barrage of missiles from its top.

"Alright!" exclaimed Sonic. "Bring it on!"


End file.
